» See all George Custer Articles George Custer summary: George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer who, after finishing last in his class at West Point, was still called to serve in the union army at the start of the The Civil War . After serving in the American Civil War, he then served in the Indian Wars, meeting his end at the battle of Little Bighorn. George Custer’s Early Life Custer was from the first thirteen German immigrant families. They arrived in North America about 1693 from Krefeld and The Rhineland area in Germany. He had older-half siblings, a younger sister and unhealthy brother as well as two healthy younger brothers who served and died with him at Little Bighorn. He had a wide range of nicknames: Autie, Armstrong, Boy General, Iron Butt, Hard Ass, Ringlets. Much of Custer’s childhood was spent in Monroe, Michigan and he attended college in Hopedale, Ohio. Even without command experience he was one of the Union Army’s youngest generals. He was promoted to general at 23 for daring and because of the people he knew.

It was because he was such a young general that he earned the title ‘Boy General.’ He was known to be very fastidious in scouting out an area before any battle, thoroughly gauging enemies and discussing battle tactics, the enemy strength and their weak points. From this information he would come up with the best way to engage in battle. In opposite to this his style for battle was often referred to as foolhardy. George Custer In The Civil War A cavalry commander in the United States Army, Custer fought in both the Indian Wars as well as the Civil War. He was raised in Ohio and Michigan and West Point admitted in 1858. During the Civil War he gained a reputation that was strong because of whom he associated with. The Battle of Bull Run was his first major engagement. He had a temporary promotion to major general but returned to captain at the end of the war. He played an important role at Appomattox and was there when Robert E. Lee surrendered. General Custer After The Civil War He left for the west and the Indian Wars after the Civil War. He led the 7th Cavalry in the battle of Washita River.

Later, in 1873, he was sent to the Dakota Territory to help protect a railroad survey crew from attacks by the Lakota Indians. Battle of Little Bighorn By 1876, still in the Black Hills, tensions had risen between the United States and the Plains Indian Tribes, leading to a battle on June 25-26 by the Little Bighorn River between Custer’s 7th Cavalry and the Lakota and Cheyenne Tribes led by Crazy Horse and White Bull. Around 500 U.S. soldiers met an estimated 3,500 Indian warriors. All the U.S. troops were killed in what is often referred to as, “Custer’s Last Stand.” Articles Featuring George Custer From History Net Magazines Featured Article George Armstrong Custer: Between Myth and Reality George Armstrong Custer stalks America’s past with a disturbing presence.

His popular image has been painted in the darkest tones — executioner of Confederate prisoners at Front Royal, Virginia; destroyer of homes and barns in the Shenandoah Valley; Indian killer for his attack on a Cheyenne village on the Washita River; and vainglorious fool who led himself and 262 men to their deaths at the Little Bighorn. Historians, novelists and screenwriters have engraved an indelible portrait of Custer upon the nation’s conscience. However, the popular Custer overshadows, if not belies, the historic Custer. During the Civil War, his exploits and youth earned him the nickname ‘Boy General. He earned a major generalcy when he was 25 years old, the youngest man to hold that rank in the annals of the American military. By the conflict’s end, Custer had become a household name and a Northern hero. Controversy never left him, for he was a flawed and complex man encased in a compelling personality. But the measurement of the man extends beyond Front Royal, Washita and Little Bighorn to Hunterstown, Gettysburg, Yellow Tavern, Haw’s Shop, Tom’s Brook and Appomattox Station.

Born on December 5, 1839, in New Rumley, Ohio, Custer was the oldest surviving child of Emanuel and Maria Kirkpatrick Custer. His parents had been widowed before marrying each other and had lost two infant sons before the birth of their third boy, whom they called Armstrong. As he learned to talk, he garbled his name as Autie, and to his family he would be Autie for the rest of his life. Eventually, three more sons and a daughter were born to the Custers, all of whom survived into adulthood. From the outset, Autie was special in the family, spoiled by his parents and later worshipped by his siblings. He reveled in mischief. George was a wide awake boy, recalled a schoolmate, full of all kinds of pranks and willing to take all kinds of chances. A teacher described him as irrepressible, while another childhood friend asserted, He was rather a bad boy in school. Autie was bright, but he hated homework, preferring to read novels, biographies and military history. His efforts in school centered upon creating mayhem.

At the age of 10, Autie joined Lydia Ann Reed, his mother’s daughter from her first marriage, in Monroe, Mich. His parents sent him there for schooling, and Monroe became his adopted hometown. He lived with his sister and brother-in-law for six years before accepting a teaching position in Ohio. He failed miserably, however, in various assignments. An acquaintance at the time remembered: Custer was what he appeared. There was nothing hidden in his nature. He was kind and generous to his friends; bitter and implacable towards his enemies. It seemed, however, that fate or circumstances conspired at timely moments to favor Custer. He had aspired to an appointment to West Point, but his father was a staunch Democrat in the congressional district of Republican John A. Bingham. Custer, meanwhile, had begun a fervid courtship of Mary Jane, or Mollie, Holland. Her father discovered a note to her from Custer that mentioned a rendezvous on a trundle bed. Determined to rid the family of Mollie’s suitor, it would appear that Holland requested of Bingham — an old friend — that Custer be given the West Point appointment.

Others may also have interceded with the congressman, who ended up nominating the 17-year-old Custer. After George Custer’s death in 1876, his wife Libbie would dedicate her life to preserving, if not embellishing, the memory of his military exploits. (U.S. Army) Custer entered the U.S. Military Academy in June 1857, a member of the class of 1862. His cadetship remains renowned in the institution’s history. As he had as a boy, Custer tested boundaries and rules. In four years, he amassed a total of 726 demerits, one of the worst conduct records in the academy’s annals. He told a fellow cadet that there were only two places in a class, head and foot, and since he had no desire to be the head, he aspired to be the foot. A roommate noted, It was all right with him whether he knew his lesson or not: he did not allow it to trouble him. Like their fellow Americans, the cadets divided by region over the events of the 1850s.

With the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 and the secession of states, Southern cadets began leaving the academy in the winter and spring of 1861. The firing on Fort Sumter increased the number of resignations. Ironically for Custer, all his roommates except one had been Southerners. The advent of war forced academy officials to graduate the class of 1861 in May. But with the demand for trained officers, the War Department compressed the class of 1862’s final year into six weeks. The second class of 1861 was graduated on June 24, with Custer ranking last among the 34 members. He would be the final member to be assigned to a command, his departure delayed by his court-martial for another infraction. Weeks prior to his graduation, he had written to his sister, If it is my lot to fall in the defence of my country’s rights, I will lay down my life as freely as if I had a thousand lives at my disposal. On July 18, Custer left West Point. Second Lieutenant Custer arrived in Washington, D.C., two days later.

By happenstance or good fortune, he secured one of the last, if not the last, available government horses in the capital and carried War Department dispatches to Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell at Centreville, Va. Assigned to Company G, 2nd U.S. Cavalry, Custer reached his regiment in time to participate in the First Battle of Bull Run. His regiment covered the retreat of the routed Federals. One trooper later wrote, Though famished, exhausted, spent, Custer never let up, never slackened control. For nearly the next two years, Custer served in various staff assignments, rising to the rank of brevet captain. He gained a reputation for fearlessness, if not recklessness. He ascended in a balloon to survey Confederate works, led reconnaissance parties and was cited for gallant and spirited conduct. By the end of May 1862, Custer had joined the staff of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, serving under the Army of the Potomac commander during the Seven Days and Antietam campaigns.

When McClellan was relieved of command in November, Custer accompanied the general and later assisted in the preparation of McClellan’s reports. Custer had written a revealing letter to a cousin on October 3, 1862, after he witnessed the terrible carnage of Antietam. You ask me if I will not be glad when the last battle is fought, he stated, so far as the country is concerned I, of course, must wish for peace, and will be glad when the war is ended, but if I answer for myself alone, I must say that I shall regret to see the war end. I would be willing, yes glad, to see a battle every day during my life. Now do not misunderstand me. I speak only of my own interests and desires…but as I said before, when I think of the pain & misery produced to individuals as well as the miserable sorrow caused throughout the land I cannot but earnestly hope for peace, and at an early date. Since youth, Custer had read stories of past warriors and had dreamed of martial glory. While he understood war’s fearful costs, he saw in it an opportunity for personal fame and advancement.

His ambition was inordinate, and perhaps it impelled his fearlessness. Although he assured his family that he would not risk his life, Custer led men from the front, whether in command of a company or later of a division. Combat inflamed his soul and held incalculable opportunity for glory. Devoted to the Union cause, Custer saw the conflict as a trumpet calling. His coveted opportunity came in June 1863, when Lincoln replaced Joseph Hooker as army commander with George G. Meade. The president granted Meade authority to replace any officers he chose. Cavalry Corps commander Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton recommended to Meade the promotion of three of his staff officers — Custer, Wesley Merritt and Elon Farnsworth — to brigadiers. On June 29 Custer received a general’s star and command of the Michigan Brigade of cavalry, comprising the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th regiments. At 23, he was the youngest general in the Union Army. Starting with the Overland campaign in the spring of 1864, Custer (seated, far right) served under Maj. Gen.

Philip Sheridan (far left), along with (from left) Colonel George Forsyth, Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt and Brig. Gen. Thomas Devin. (Library of Congress) On the day of his promotion, Custer joined two of his regiments as the army marched north into Pennsylvania. To the Michiganders, he was a sight to behold. He wore a uniform of black velveteen, with gold lace that extended from his wrist to his elbow, a wide-collared blue sailor shirt with silver stars sewn on and a red necktie around his throat. He had apparently had the uniform made by a tailor at an earlier date. Custer said later that he wanted a distinctive uniform so his men could see him during combat. Superior officers and newspapermen could also see such striking attire, unlike any other in the army. Whatever doubts the Michiganders had about their new brigadier, Custer removed them within days. At Hanover, Pa., on June 30, he directed them in dismounted fighting. Two days later, at Hunterstown, he personally led a company in an attack down a narrow road, and his horse was killed under him.

Custer had been deploying skirmishers to test the Confederate position and numbers when his superior, Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, ordered the mounted charge. When Custer rode to the front of the company, he evidently wanted to demonstrate his personal bravery to the men. The renown that he had sought for so long came a day later, on the John Rummel farm east of Gettysburg. In an engagement with Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s Confederate horsemen, Custer led the 7th Michigan and then the 1st Michigan in mounted counterattacks. Riding in the van of each regiment, Custer shouted to the men, Come on, you Wolverines! The charges blunted Stuart’s thrusts, and the Yankees held the field. During the Southern retreat from Gettysburg, clashes occurred almost daily between the mounted opponents. Custer’s Wolverines were often in the forefront of the action. On July 14, at Falling Waters, Md., Custer encountered the final contingent of the Confederate army as it prepared to cross the Potomac River. As he had done at Hunterstown, Custer deployed dismounted skirmishers.

But Kilpatrick joined him and without knowledge of the enemy’s strength or disposition ordered a mounted assault. Two companies of the 6th Michigan ascended a ridge and plunged into the Rebel works, held by infantrymen. In the ensuing melee, the Federals lost more than half their numbers and were routed. It had not been Custer who had acted rashly, but Kilpatrick. After Gettysburg, a lieutenant in the 6th Michigan claimed: The command perfectly idolized Custer. The old Michigan Brigade adored its Brigadier, and all felt as if he weighed about a ton. A private declared that Custer had put the very devil into the regiments. They had called him at first the boy General of the Golden Lock. But he had shown them, in the estimation of one Wolverine, that he was not afraid to fight like a private soldier…and that he was ever in front and would never ask them to go where he would not lead. An officer told his mother in a letter, It is an honor to belong to Mich Cavalry. Never camera-shy, Captain Custer posed for photographer James F. Gibson in 1862 with Confederate prisoner Lieutenant James B.

Washington and his slave at Fair Oaks, Va. (Library of Congress). Praise for Custer’s bearing and leadership in action continued during the numerous cavalry clashes in the summer and fall. A captain in the 2nd New York Cavalry, after seeing Custer in an engagement, later said: It seemed to be the general impression that he would not have the nerve to `Face the music’ with his bandbox equipment, but he soon proved himself equal to the occasion….No soldier who saw him on that day…ever questioned his right to wear a star, or all the gold lace he felt inclined to wear. One of his aides confided in a letter: To say that General Custer is a brave man is unnecessary. He has proved himself to be not only that but also a very cool and self possessed man. It is indeed difficult to disturb his mental Equilibrium. A Michigander put it bluntly to his wife, He is a very odd man but he understand his business. Custer’s emergence as an outstanding brigade commander coincided with the increasing prowess of the Federal mounted arm. He, Merritt and others brought aggressiveness to Federal cavalry tactics.

Jeb Stuart’s vaunted Confederate horsemen, plagued by shortages of men and mounts, no longer dominated the battlefields. Union troopers had achieved parity, which eventually became superiority. The troopers’ confidence in Custer reflected a confidence in themselves. In February 1864, Custer secured a leave, returning to Monroe for his wedding. For much of the previous year, he and Elizabeth Libbie Bacon had conducted a clandestine courtship through letters. Her father, Judge Daniel Bacon, had vehemently objected to Custer’s attentions toward Libbie. By the fall of 1863, however, Judge Bacon had relented to her wishes, and on February 9, 1864, the couple was married. Autie and Libbie’s marriage was one of love and passion. After Custer’s death, Libbie devoted her remaining 57 years to molding and guarding his image as an American hero. Custer and Libbie enjoyed a honeymoon and another extended leave together before he rejoined the army for its spring operations. By then, General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant had appointed Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan as commander of the army’s Cavalry Corps.

Thirty-three years old, Sheridan was a barrel-chested man with unusually short legs. Lincoln wryly described him as a brown, chunky little chap, with a long body, short legs, not enough neck to hang him, and such long arms that if his ankles itch he can scratch them without stooping. His men called him Little Phil. Sheridan possessed, however, a combativeness that Grant wanted instilled into the mounted arm. With Sheridan’s appointment, additional leadership changes occurred, and Custer believed that he himself deserved promotion to division command. Although disappointed, Custer told his sister, Gen Sheridan from what I learn and see is an able and good commander and I like him very much. In time, Custer became more closely identified with Sheridan than any other officer in the Cavalry Corps. Their personal and professional relationship was destined to endure until Little Bighorn. As the Michiganders prepared for the forthcoming campaign, their writings revealed their abiding respect for and devotion to Custer. They now called him Old Curley for his long, flowing blond hair. We swear by him, asserted Major James H. Kidd of Custer in a letter to his father. His move is our battle cry.

He can get twice the fight out of this brigade than any other man can possibly do. A member of the 5th Michigan Cavalry believed that he is the best cavalry officer left in the Army of the Potomac. Another officer in the brigade explained: His men were always at the front, and were always on the best of terms with him. A private could talk to him as freely as an officer. If he had any complaint to make, Custer was always ready to listen. During the Overland campaign in May-June 1864, under the leadership of Custer and his regimental commanders, the Michiganders — fighting mounted and dismounted — showed time and again that they were arguably the finest cavalry brigade in the Union Army. On May 11 at Yellow Tavern, a Wolverine mortally wounded Jeb Stuart. Seventeen days later at Haw’s Shop, the brigade routed a Confederate force. Writing after the engagement, Major Kidd declared: For all this Brigade has accomplished all praise is due to Gen Custer. So brave a man I never saw and as competent as brave. Under him a man is ashamed to be cowardly. Under him our men can achieve wonders.

A fierce test came for the Michiganders on June 11 at Trevilian Station. When the 5th Michigan surged ahead into a Rebel wagon train, Southern horsemen counterattacked. Custer hurried forward the rest of the brigade as additional Confederate regiments charged. The Federals were trapped on the inside of a living triangle, according to a scout from Merritt’s division who witnessed the fight from a distance. For three hours the Wolverines repulsed enemy attacks from three directions. Custer was everywhere present, recalled Kidd, giving directions to his subordinate commanders. Finally, their comrades in the other brigades punched through the Rebel lines and relieved the Michiganders. The Confederates had captured 309 members of the Michigan Brigade and Custer’s headquarters wagon, which contained his personal belongings and letters from Libbie. A Richmond newspaper received the letters and published them, embarrassing the Custers. At the campaign’s end, the War Department promoted Custer to a brevet lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army. Custer, one of Sheridan’s aides contended, was a man of boundless confidence in himself and great faith in his lucky star. In August Grant assigned Sheridan to command of the Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley.

By midmonth, two cavalry divisions from the Army of the Potomac, including the Michigan Brigade, joined the command in the region. Sheridan’s Federals opposed Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s Confederate Army of the Valley in a campaign that resulted in four Union battlefield victories and the destruction of hundreds of barns, mills and stockpiles of supplies and foodstuffs. Custer distinguished himself throughout the operations. On September 26, with the transfer of Brig. Gen. James Harrison Wilson to the West, Custer assumed command of the 3rd Cavalry Division. His successor in command of the Michigan Brigade stated in his report that with Custer’s promotion the four regiments suffered the most severe loss of the campaign. A Vermonter in the division claimed that its members welcomed the change, though they knew it meant mounted charges, instead of dismounted skirmishes, and a foremost place in every fight. Custer led the division in the cavalry engagement at Tom’s Brook and in the Battle of Cedar Creek. At 25 he was promoted to brevet major general, to date from Cedar Creek, October 19.

In a ceremony at the War Department, Custer and a detail of troopers presented captured battle flags to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. One of the cavalrymen told Stanton, the 3rd Division wouldn’t be worth a cent if it wasn’t for [Custer]. Sheridan and the two cavalry divisions spent the winter of 1865 in the Shenandoah Valley before marching south in late February. On March 2 at Waynesborough, the 3rd Cavalry Division routed the remnants of Early’s Army of the Valley. By the end of the month, Sheridan’s command had rejoined the Army of the Potomac at Petersburg. When the Federals broke through General Robert E. Lee’s defensive works on April 2, the Union cavalry led the pursuit of Lee’s retreating army. It was Custer’s men on the evening of April 8 who interdicted the Confederate flight at Appomattox Station and cut off the Rebel army’s retreat route. During that final week, Custer’s men captured more than 30 enemy flags. His brother, Tom, seized a pair and received two Medals of Honor. The end came at Appomattox on April 9.

During a truce between the armies, before Grant and Lee met, Custer rode into the Confederate lines and demanded the surrender of the army from Lee’s senior officer, James Longstreet. It was a brazen act, and Longstreet evidently berated the young Union general. After the surrender ceremony, however, Sheridan confiscated the table Grant had used and had it delivered to Libbie Custer. In an accompanying note, Sheridan wrote in part, permit me to say, Madam, that there is scarcely an individual in our service who has contributed more to bring about this desirable result than your gallant husband. On May 23, the Army of the Potomac marched through the streets of Washington in the Grand Review. Earlier in the morning as Custer joined his command, every member of the 3rd Cavalry Division was wearing a red necktie in his honor. The Michigan Brigade had adopted it as its badge, and now so had the 3rd Division. During the review, a woman stepped from the crowd and tossed a wreath of flowers and evergreens at Custer. His horse bolted toward the reviewing stand, and he lost his sword and hat. Whether deliberately or not, Custer had dramatically seized the moment.

Sheridan later wrote of Custer, If there ever was poetry or romance in war, he could develop it. He was perhaps the Civil War’s last knight. He had dreamed of glory and had found it in the terrible confines of combat. The words of the men he led testified to his abilities, bravery and leadership. He had been a superb cavalry commander. But ahead of him lay a rendezvous on a Montana ridge that has darkened his achievements as the Union’s Boy General. He craved greatness for himself, and this ambition earned him immortality. This article was written by Jeffry D. Wert and originally published in the March/April 2006 issue of Civil War Times Magazine. For more great articles, be sure to subscribe to Civil War Times magazine today! George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer Tweet George Custer George Armstrong Custer has been better known for his exploits after the Civil War than those during. However, his career in the Union army was a success due in large part to his dual characteristics of bravery and audacity. Described as aggressive, gallant, reckless, and foolhardy, Custer has become one of the most celebrated and controversial figures of the Civil War.

Born in Harrison County, Ohio on December 5, 1839, son of Emanuel and Marie, Custer was nicknamed “Autie” because of his mispronunciation of his middle name as a small child. George had four younger siblings, Thomas, Margaret, Nevin, and Boston, as well as several older half-siblings from his mother’s first marriage to Israel Kirkpatrick, who died in 1835. During much of his boyhood George lived with his half-sister and brother-in-law in Monroe, Michigan, where he attended McNeely Norman School, carrying coal with a classmate in order to pay for room and board. Upon graduation, he taught school for two years before being admitted to the U.S. Military Academy, where he graduated in 1861, ranked last in his class of 34 cadets. Ever a trickster, multiple demerits for pulling practical jokes on his classmates brought him close to expulsion several times. Custer Articles J.E.B.

Stuart Graduating in 1861, his low rank was less significant than it might have been during peace time because of demand for officers and he was mustered into the Union army as a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry. Custer was able to distinguish himself as a risk-taker early in the war. During the Peninsula Campaign when General John G. Barnard stopped at the Chickahominy River, debating where to cross based on the depth of the water, Custer took action and promptly rode his horse out to the middle of the river so as to determine if it was passable. The act gained him notoriety among important high-ranking officers. During the Battle of Bull Run , Custer served as a courier between Winfield Scott and Irvin McDowell, subsequently serving as a staff officer for Generals George B. McClellan and Alfred Pleasanton with the temporary rank of captain. On June 29, 1863 Custer was commissioned to brigadier general of volunteers and assigned to command a brigade in Kilpatrick’s division. While in this position he led his men in the Battle of Gettysburg where he assisted in preventing J.E.B.

Stuart from attacking the Union rear. Throughout the war Custer continued to distinguishing himself as fearless, aggressive, and ostentatious. His personalized uniform style, complete with a red neckerchief could be somewhat alienating, but he was successful in gaining the respect of his men with his willingness to lead attacks from the front rather than the back. During the Richmond campaign in 1864, Custer participated in the battle at Yellow Tavern, where J.E.B. Stuart was mortally wounded. Following which he and his men were transferred to the Shenandoah Valley. Here he played a major role in the defeat of Jubal Early’s army at Third Winchester and Cedar Creek . As Custer's final major act in the war he led the division responsible for cutting off Lee’s last avenue of escape at Appomattox ; a week later he received the appointment, major general of volunteers. In 1866, Custer was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 7th Cavalry and assigned to command the cavalry in the west. While in this position he took part in Winfield Hancock’s expedition against the Sioux and Cheyenne in 1867.

After a court-martial and suspension from duty for an unauthorized visit to his wife, Elizabeth Clift Bacon, Custer was restored to duty by Philip Sheridan. Custer went on to take part in the Yellowstone expedition into the Black Hills, which precipitated the Sioux uprising of 1876, culminating in the Battle of Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876. Under the over-all command of General Alfred H. Terry, Custer was to be part of a two column attack. However, upon discovering a large native settlement, Custer proceeded to divide his own forces into three battalions. Without waiting for support, Custer led an attack which resulted in the annihilation of his immediate command and a total loss of 266 officers and men, including his brothers Tom and Boston. The soldiers' remains were given a hasty burial on the battlefield, but within the next year Custer’s body was reinterred at West Point with a full military funeral. George Armstrong Custer was a prolific writer who recorded many of his escapades, and it was through these writings, as well as his wife’s determination to clear his name that he became one of the most celebrated and controversial figures of the Civil War.

Want the Latest? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: 10 Things You May Not Know About George Armstrong Custer - History in the Headlines 10 Things You May Not Know About George Armstrong Custer December 5, 2014 By Christopher Klein Share this: 10 Things You May Not Know About George Armstrong Custer Author 10 Things You May Not Know About George Armstrong Custer URL Google Born on December 5, 1839, in New Rumley, Ohio, George Armstrong Custer first achieved renown as a young Civil War hero before gaining everlasting fame a decade later from his spectacular defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn. On the 175th anniversary of Custer’s birth, explore 10 surprising facts about the general who remains one of the most controversial figures in American history. 1. Four other members of the Custer family died at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Among the force of more than 200 men wiped out by the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors on June 25, 1876, were Custer’s 18-year-old nephew, Henry Reed, brother-in-law James Calhoun and two younger brothers, Boston and Thomas (a Civil War veteran and two-time Medal of Honor recipient). 2. His nickname was “Autie.” Custer’s mispronunciation of his middle name when he first began to speak was adopted by his family as his nickname. The moniker stuck with him for his entire life and was used by his wife, Libbie, as a term of endearment. Custer as a West Point cadet 3. Custer graduated last in his class at West Point. Custer was known by his fellow cadets at the U.S. Military Academy as the “dare-devil of the class” who devoted more energy to pranks than to his academic studies. Custer’s voluminous record of demerits earned him extra guard duty on most Saturdays, but he did manage to graduate from West Point in 1861, albeit as the lowest-ranking cadet, now known as “the goat.” 4.

Custer was the youngest Civil War general in the Union Army. Although Custer struggled in the classroom, he excelled on the battlefield. After joining the Army of the Potomac’s cavalry following his graduation, he gained notice for his daring cavalry charges, bold leadership style and tactical brilliance. In June 1863, Custer was promoted to the rank of brigadier general at the age of 23, and he cemented his reputation as the “Boy General” days later at the Battle of Gettysburg when he repelled a pivotal Confederate assault led by J.E.B. Stuart. By the end of the Civil War, Custer had risen to the rank of major general. 5. His wife received the table on which the Civil War surrender terms were drafted. Custer served the Army of the Potomac with distinction from the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 to Appomattox Court House four years later. Custer’s forces blocked Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s final retreat, and he received the white truce flag signifying Lee’s wish to meet with Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

Custer was present in the front parlor of Wilmer McLean’s home on April 9, 1865, when Lee surrendered to Grant. General Philip Sheridan purchased the small spool-turned table used by Grant to draft and sign the terms of surrender and gave it to Libbie Custer in gratitude for her husband’s service. “Permit me to say, Madam,” Sheridan wrote to Libbie, “that there is scarcely an individual in our service who has contributed more to bring about this desirable result than your gallant husband.” After Libbie’s death in 1933, her will specified that the table be given to the Smithsonian Institution. George and Libbie Custer 6. Custer scented his hair with cinnamon oil. The flamboyant Custer paid great attention to his appearance. He wore a black velvet uniform with coils of gold lace, spurs on his boots, a red scarf around his neck and a large, broad-brimmed sombrero. Custer took particular pride in his cascading golden locks, which he perfumed with cinnamon oil. 7. Custer was twice court-martialed.

Prior to graduating from West Point, Custer was court-martialed for neglect of duty in failing to stop a fight between two cadets when he was officer of the guard and received a light punishment. Much more serious was his 1867 court-martial in which he was convicted on eight counts that included conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, and absence without leave from his command after he left part of his regiment on the Kansas frontier while he returned without orders to Fort Riley in order to see Libbie. Custer was suspended from rank and command without pay for a year, but Sheridan reinstated him after 10 months to lead a bloody campaign against the Cheyenne. 8. Buffalo Bill helped to mythologize Custer’s Last Stand. After Custer’s death, his widow devoted the remaining 57 years of her life writing books and delivering lectures that cast her husband as a martyr who gallantly staged his “Last Stand.” William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, who had briefly scouted for Custer, also contributed to the mythmaking.

Weeks after the Battle of Little Bighorn, he killed and scalped a Cheyenne warrior named Yellow Hair and declared it “the first scalp for Custer.” Buffalo Bill replayed the scene repeatedly throughout his theatrical career and incorporated a re-enactment of “Custer’s Last Rally,” complete with several Native Americans who had actually been present at the Battle of Little Bighorn, into his famed Wild West show. Battle of the Little Bighorn 9. Custer was thought to have lived a charmed life. During the Civil War, the “Boy General” seemed to have such a streak of good fortune, which included his avoidance of serious injury in spite of his daring command and having 11 horses shot out from under him, that is was referred to as “Custer’s luck.” The revival of his military career after his 1867 court-martial furthered the perception that Custer lived a charmed life, but Custer’s luck ran out at Little Bighorn. 10. Ronald Reagan played Custer on the big screen.

The future president played the role of a young Custer in the 1940 western “Santa Fe Trail,” a box-office success that abounded in historical inaccuracies. Reagan starred opposite Errol Flynn, who played J.E.B. Stuart, on the hunt for abolitionist John Brown in pre-Civil War Kansas. A year later, Flynn starred as Custer in the highly mythologized biopic “They Died With Their Boots On.” Tags George Armstrong Custer - Dying at the Little Bighorn AMERICAN HISTORY George Armstrong Custer - Dying at the Little Bighorn George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) - A United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the Civil War and the Indian Wars . In the Civil War , he developed a strong reputation and when it was over, was dispatched to the west to fight in the Indian Wars . His disastrous final battle overshadowed his prior achievements. Custer and all the men with him were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, fighting against a coalition of Native American tribes in a battle that has come to be popularly known in American history as " Custer's Last Stand ".

George Armstrong Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio on December 5, 1839. For his entire life he would be called "Autie" by his loved ones; stemming from his own mispronunciation of his middle name. As a boy, he was always distracted by other pursuits and rarely, if ever, established himself from the rest of the children as a student. In 1855 he attended a Normal School and by the following year, had his teaching certificate to instruct grammar school. It was not long before he grew tired of this profession, and soon applied to attend the West Point Military Academy. Custer entered the academy in the fall of 1857 and graduated last in a class of 34 in June, 1861. As the Civil War broke out, Custer chose the Cavalry as the branch he wished to serve in and was first assigned staff duty with the Army of the Potomac . He soon distinguished himself as a man quick to volunteer and easily relied upon. In November, 1862, Custer was introduced to a sought-after young woman, the daughter of a judge named Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon.

Initially, Libbie fended off the confident young officer's advances, but soon, the two became sweethearts. Libbie's father, Judge Daniel Bacon, did not approve of his daughter courting someone beneath her station, nevertheless, they did, writing letters to one another frequently. In the first two years of the Civil War , Custer was promoted several times all the way to the rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers, commanding the Michigan Cavalry Brigade. Now a General, Libbie's father began to cool his objections to the young couple. In February, 1864, the two were married in Monroe. After the honeymoon, Custer again returned to his obligations as an officer, but the two corresponded incessantly, and spent time together whenever the opportunity presented itself. Through the rest of the war he steadily advanced in responsibility and rank. By war's end, in 1865, Custer commanded an entire Cavalry Division holding the rank of Major General. In many cases, Generals led their troops on the battlefield by commanding movements from the rear. Custer, however, distinguished himself as a leader who commanded his troops from the front.

Oftentimes, in a charge, he was the very first soldier to engage the enemy. In one instance, he extended so far ahead of his own men that the enemy cut him off from the rest of his command. Men found in Custer a gallant leader worthy of following into battle. In the majority of the battles he fought against Confederate forces he was victorious. On many occasions, he narrowly escaped with his life; having 11 horses shot from under him and incurring only one wound from a Confederate artillery shell during the Battle of Culpepper Courthouse. As a result, he became known for his legendary "Custer Luck." After the Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, the huge Volunteer Army was demobilized and Custer assumed his regular army rank as Captain. In 1866, when the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment was created at Fort Riley , Kansas , Custer was promoted to the position of Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. The first Colonel of the 7th was Colonel Andrew Smith, (1866-1869) and the second Colonel was Colonel Samuel Sturgis (1869-1886).

Colonel Smith and Colonel Sturgis were usually on detached service which placed Custer in command of the Regiment until his death on June 25th, 1876. In 1867, serving under Major General Winfield Hancock, Custer would see his first real experience in the west. Ostensibly, the campaign was to enter into peace negotiations with the Southern Cheyenne and Kiowa along the Arkansas River . Hancock's men and Custer set out "to confer with them to ascertain if they want to fight, in which case Hancock will indulge them." While he scarcely saw combat during his Kansas/Colorado campaign, Custer began to learn the nuances of Indian fighting. At the end of the campaign, he was suspended from duty for one year. Custer was court-martialed at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas for being AWOL, after having abandoned his post to see his wife. He was also charged with conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, as well as for ordering deserters shot without trial and refusing them medical attention. The court-martial found him guilty of all charges and he was sentenced to one year of suspension from rank without pay.

A dishonored Custer was then plagued with a very different reputation from the venerable one he enjoyed during the Civil War . At the request of Major General Philip H. Sheridan , who wanted Custer for his planned winter campaign against the Cheyenne , Custer was allowed to return to duty in 1868, before his term of suspension had expired. In 1868, conflict between Cheyenne and homesteaders raged. The U.S. Army dispatched a winter campaign in response to Indian raids along the Arkansas River Valley. Custer, now reinstated, was to command the 7th Cavalry for the campaign which culminated with the Battle of the Washita , Oklahoma on November 27, 1868. At dawn, Custer's 7th attacked an unsuspecting village of Southern Cheyenne led by Chief Black Kettle . The Battle of Washita should probably be called a massacre instead, as Custer and his men killed warriors, women and children alike. Although some sources/articles indicate troops were told to spare women and children, many were slaughtered, including Chief Black Kettle and his wife. In 1873 the 7th would be called into action again.

This time, they were charged with protecting the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey as it moved along the Yellowstone River investigating sites to lay rail. The Lakota Sioux , among other tribes , took particular issue with the construction of the railroad. Soon, the Lakota were attacking survey sites regularly. While neither party realized it at the time, this would be the first contact between Sitting Bull , Crazy Horse , Chief Gall and other notable Lakota figures and their famous opponent -- George Armstrong Custer. The following summer of 1874, Custer led a 1,200 person expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota , whose possession the United States had guaranteed the Lakota just six years before. In a time of economic depression, rumors had begun circulating that the Black Hills were ripe with gold. Opportunistic men began to enter the area in search of riches. In the meantime, homesteaders had been frequently raided by Lakota war-parties. The army sought to establish a fort in the Black Hills to deter mining invasions, protect Lakota land, and provide a site within the Sioux lands for the purposes of preventing further raiding. The 7th Cavalry was charged with finding a proper site for a fort to be built.

Along for the expedition, at the behest of General Custer, were two professional miners. During the summer expedition, gold was discovered, and accompanying journalists quickly sent word back east. The rumors of gold in the Black Hills which had been circulating for over 50 years had now been confirmed, and a new gold rush was on. By late 1875, information had become public that high ranking officials in Washington were involved in a scandal that involved the selling of exclusive trading rights at forts and posts along the upper Missouri River region. The licenses needed to trade at military forts were issued by the Secretary of War, William Belknap. In March and April of 1876, Custer testified before a congressional committee that Secretary Belknap was involved in the graft. In addition, Custer's testimony attached President Ulysses S. Grant's own brother Orville to the corruption. This put Custer in a precarious situation with the Commander and Chief, who was presently overseeing the final planning stages of an offensive on the Lakota and Cheyenne Indians for the upcoming spring. Custer was eventually allowed to command his 7th Cavalry for the upcoming campaign. In the spring of 1876, the U.S.

Army dispatched three massive columns comprising multiple regiments of Cavalry, Infantry, and Artillery. Their objective was to clear the area of Lakota and Cheyenne Indians and force them onto the Great Sioux Reservation. Custer's regiment was part of the largest column coming from Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota . General Alfred Terry commanded the campaign, and Custer was Terry's subordinate. On June 22, 1876, under orders from Terry, Custer's 7th Cavalry was sent ahead of the rest of the column in hopes that they could be the striking force for what was most assuredly a large collection of Lakota warriors not far ahead of them. The original plan for defeating the Lakota called for the three forces under the command of General George Crook, John Gibbon, and Custer to trap the bulk of the Lakota and Cheyenne population between them and deal them a crushing defeat. Custer, however, advanced much more quickly than he had been ordered to do, and neared what he thought was a large Indian village on the morning of June 25, 1876.

Custer's rapid advance had put him far ahead of Gibbon's slower-moving infantry brigades, and unbeknownst to him, General Crook's forces had been turned back by Crazy Horse and his band at Rosebud Creek. Based on intelligence suggesting that the Lakota and Cheyenne were about to flee, Custer ordered his 7th Cavalry to attack. By the end of the day, 263 soldiers and approximately 80 Lakota and Cheyenne lay dead. Custer was among them. Less than two weeks later on July 4th, Philadelphia was bursting at the seams with pride and nationalism. On the 100th birthday of the United States, people had come from all over the world to share in the theme of "100 Years of Progress." On that day, they would receive word that their famous Civil War hero had been killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana Territory. Americans were confounded in shock and stricken with grief. Americans were devastated, but, none more than the wife of the fallen General, Libbie. She lived on another 57 years after her beloved husband's death.

For the rest of her days, she tirelessly lobbied public opinion; portraying her husband as a brave, gallant, and noble figure struck down before his time. In spite of his early death, Custer's name would continue to live on in dime novels, art, music and film. Thanks in large part to Libbie, her husband achieved in death the infamy he sought in life. George Armstrong Custer - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com George Armstrong Custer A+E Networks Introduction George Armstrong Custer, a U.S. cavalry officer who served with distinction in the American Civil War, is better known for leading more than 200 of his men to their deaths in the notorious Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. The battle, also known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” was part of the Black Hills War against a confederation of Plains Indians, including the Cheyenne and Dakota Sioux. It remains one of the most controversial battles in U.S. history. Google (1839-1876), Civil War cavalry commander and Indian fighter. Born in New Rumley, Ohio , Custer entered West Point in 1857.

Upon graduation in 1861 he was assigned immediately to duty as an aide to Gen. George McClellan . Next he drew a cavalry assignment, and his boldness in battle brought rapid promotions. At twenty-three he was the youngest brevet brigadier general in the Union army. While on furlough he met and soon married Elizabeth Bacon, who was to play a significant role in shaping his career and perpetuating his memory. Did You Know? George Armstrong Custer graduated last in his 1861 West Point class. Today, that position is known as the "Goat." When the war ended, Custer was returned to the permanent rank of captain. After serving several months in Texas , he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and assigned to the Seventh Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Riley, Kansas . Accompanied by Elizabeth, he reported for duty early in 1867. Under Gen. Winfield Hancock’s command, Custer led the Seventh Cavalry in several skirmishes against Indians in Kansas and Nebraska . Soon after the campaign closed, his uxoriousness came near to ending his career. Instead of remaining with his troops at Fort Wallace as ordered, he made a hasty journey to Fort Riley to see Elizabeth.

As a result he was suspended for one year. In 1868 Gen. Philip Sheridan replaced Hancock and soon arranged for Custer’s reinstatement. That November, after raiding Black Kettle’s Cheyenne village, he was in trouble again for leaving the field without searching for a missing reconnaissance unit that had been ambushed and slain. Among other activities during the next six years, Custer wrote My Life on the Plains in which he attempted to justify his actions, and in 1874 he violated the treaty of 1868 by taking an expedition into the Indians’ sacred Black Hills where gold was discovered. The gold rush that followed created intense Indian hostility and precipitated the government’s decision to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations. In 1876, under command of Gen. Alfred Terry, Custer led the Seventh Cavalry as one force in a three-pronged campaign against Sitting Bull’s alliance of Sioux and Cheyenne camps in Montana . During the morning of June 25, Custer’s scouts reported spotting smoke from cooking fires and other signs of Indians in the valley of the Little Bighorn.

Disregarding Terry’s orders, Custer decided to attack before infantry and other support arrived. Although scouts warned that he was facing superior numbers (perhaps 2,500 warriors), Custer divided his regiment of 647 men, ordering Capt. Frederick Benteen’s battalion to scout along a ridge to the left and sending Maj. Marcus Reno’s battalion up the valley of the Little Bighorn to attack the Indian encampment. With the remainder of the regiment, Custer continued along high ground on the right side of the valley. In the resulting battle, he and about 250 of his men, outnumbered by the warriors of Crazy Horse and Gall, were surrounded and annihilated. Reno and Benteen suffered heavy casualties but managed to escape to a defensive position. Since that day, ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ has become an American legend. The battle site attracts thousands of visitors yearly. Throughout his career, Custer exhibited a reckless temperament that kept him in almost constant trouble with superior officers. Yet his courage has rarely been questioned. In life he was a flamboyant man who attracted ardent admirers and severe critics. In death it has been the same.

His wife, Elizabeth, through her publications and lectures during the half century she survived him, did much to create the image of a beau sabreur that still persists. Probably more words, pro and con, have been written about George Armstrong Custer than any of his military contemporaries of comparable rank. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Tags

Question: George A Custer died in which battle?
Answer: Battle of Little Big Horn